


A Story in Beads

by bfrogger



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, But nobody died at the end of the last movie soooooooooo, Dwarf Courting, Dwarf Culture & Customs, Erebor, F/M, Fluff, Hair Braiding, I'd tag this, Post-Battle of Five Armies, and some angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-01
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:48:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,430
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23949421
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bfrogger/pseuds/bfrogger
Summary: Tumblr request for Fili and fluff!After the reclaiming of Erebor, Fili will finally see his One for the first time in years.  During his travels, Fili got her a gift from each place he traveled to prove he would think on her always during his adventures.Mostly fluff, some angst.Send me more requests!
Relationships: Fíli (Tolkien)/Reader
Comments: 2
Kudos: 63





	A Story in Beads

The last time Fili saw his One had been back in the Blue Mountains shortly before he left to join Thorin’s quest and that had been years ago. Now that Erebor had been reclaimed, the halls cleaned and infrastructure repaired enough for the first caravans to arrive, Dis had notified them that they would begin the long arduous journey to the Lonely Mountain. He had been ecstatic when she had written Y/N and her family would be joining them in the journey. Every chance he got, Fili would be out scanning the horizon for any sign of the caravan or combing through scouting reports to get an update on their progress.

Just that very morning their scouts had arrived at the mountain signaling their approach and Fili had never been so nervous in his life. Fighting orc, goblins, trolls and a battle of five armies had been much easier to process.

Seeing his One and  _ finally _ telling her his feelings? Giving her his bead? Pffft. He was quaking in his boots. Not that anyone could tell of course, Thorin and Balin had taught him how to school his features. He was the heir to crown after all. And he finally had something to offer to his One. In the Blue Mountains they had to take the work they could get to help support their people. He’d been a blacksmith. A mercenary escort. Nothing he thought worthy of his One. 

As much as Thorin and their mother tried to shelter him and his brother from the gossips, he knew what Men and Dwarf alike said about his uncle. A pauper king, a beggar king. And what did that make him? An heir of nothing? What did that make his One if they married? No, Fili knew he had to go on the quest with Thorin and take back his homeland - his heritage.

Almost every one of their people thought their quest was doomed and that none of them would return. But she had believed in them, in  _ him _ , and it had warmed his heart like no other. He almost told her then and there, but in the end he had backed out. It wouldn’t be fair to her to voice his love and then leave for an undetermined amount of time. 

She wasn’t the daughter from a noble family, but of a baker. Fili didn’t care though. She had a kind heart (and a mischievous streak) and had an endearing habit of taking care of the stray cats and dogs on the streets.  _ Mahal _ if he had a gold coin every time he spotted her splinting the leg of an injured animal -using cloth from her own skirt no less!- he’d have more gold than in all of Erebor. In fact, she had been tending to a wounded rat when he had stopped by her house to say goodbye. 

“Will you remember me when you are crowned prince of Erebor?” she had teased as she put a bandage on the rat’s injured tail. Rolling up his sleeves, he had helped to hold the rat and make sure it didn’t bite them while she worked.

“Of course, Y/N, I could never forget you,” he grimaced as he struggled to hold onto the rat and keep his fingers away from its teeth, “I’ll be thinking about you always.” 

It took him a moment to realize what he said -and he nearly dropped the rat when he did!- and could feel his cheeks burning with embarrassment, but Y/N didn’t seem to notice.

“Oh Fili, don’t be silly,” she had laughed as she took the rat from his hands, quickly placing it back in its cage, “You’ll have more pressing things to think about than just a simple baker like me.”

However he words had put a fire in his heart and he had taken her hand and vowed that he would think of her everyday that he was away. As proof he’d give her something from each place he went, to show that he thought of her. Giving her a soft smile, he loved the way she blushed and looked up at him through her long lashes.

“You promise you’ll come back? Alive?” she had asked him softly.

“Of course,” he had smiled, “How else would I get you your trinkets?”

At first he had no idea what to get her from each place. It had to be small enough for him to carry, yet represent where he had been. Surprisingly, it had been Bifur that gave him the idea, although indirectly. He saw the dwarf whittling something in the hobbit’s home and was struck with the brilliant idea of making her a bead from the wood or stone of each place they visited. From the Shire he had carved a bead from an acorn, Bifur showing him how to treat it so it would stay nice. He carved a tree on one side and Bifur carved the rolling hills on the other for him. She knew how much she’d enjoy running up the hills before rolling down them. In winter he could picture them sledding down the snow covered hills and it made him smile.

After battling the trolls who had turned to stone, Fili had knocked off a small piece of them and sanded and filed it down to bead shape. On one side he etched a small bug - he knew she’d have gotten a kick out of Bilbo’s ‘parasite’ plan. On the other, he carved a piece of bread. When him and his brother were supposed to be watching the ponies, he had been lost in thought remembering the times he watched her bake. As dwarflings, he and his brother had spent a lot of time with her family while Thorin and Dis were busy either working or ensuring their people had enough. Her  **adad** had let him stay during the day, setting up a nice area from them in the kitchen as they studied the tomes Balin had given them. 

He remembered sneaking glances over to her while she worked, finding the way she stuck her tongue out when focused on a particularly difficult task endearing. She’d often bring over her latest creation for them to taste test. She’d be covered in splatters of flour, her cheeks slightly flushed from the exertion and heat of the ovens, but Fili thought she was beautiful. In fact, it was after she had asked them to taste test her new honey cakes when he realized he loved her. Perhaps it was the light, or the way she smiled at them as they enjoyed her efforts, but Fili had been completely awestruck. He remembered the moment fondly and could still smell the warm honey cake from that day. So lost in that memory, he hadn’t noticed the trolls stealing away the two ponies.

At Rivendell, he had the hardest time finding something to craft a bead for her. Scouring the plentiful gardens, he saw many flowers that he thought would look beautiful in her hair. In his dreams, he could imagine the feel of his One’s (h/c) tresses slipping through his fingers as he interwove the flowers through them. Kili was the one who saved him in the end. Always fascinated with all things elf, he found a necklace that had clear beads with moss - real moss! - on the inside. Kili had even asked one of them how it was done and the elf had said it was made with a special resin, derived from a sap that grew in the trees nearby. The elf even offered to craft him a piece, he just needed the moss or flower. However Fili already knew what he wanted. There was a particular flower that only grew in Rivendell, it blossoms small enough to fit in a hair bead. In no time Fili had found the perfect one and had given it to the elf. By the next day he found the bead on his pillow and he had happily pocketed it.

During their escapade in the goblin tunnels, Fili had been glad his One hadn’t been there for he would have surely been in a full on panic. After fighting their way through the goblin invested mountain, they had brought a few goblin weapons out with them. But Fili didn’t want to make something from  _ that _ and put it in his One’s hair. However Bilbo had found several rocks in his pockets after the adventure and he had asked the hobbit for one before they were running from Azog. All dwarrow had a connection with mountains and this bead would come from the depths of the Misty Mountains, from a goblin town no less! He was sure she would be impressed with his bravery, he thought as he carved the skyline of the mountains on one side, his ax on the other.

On the carrock, there were plenty of feathers and he pocketed one for later. On the ride on the great eagles back, he had at first been so focused on how utterly  _ terrifying _ it was to be so far from the ground and watching his wounded uncle lying limply in the eagle's talons. However, his brother had whooped and hollered as they soared in the sky and Fili couldn’t help but smile and think how his One would be doing the exact same. In the Blue Mountains, they had climbed the highest peak once and thought they could see the whole of Arda from there. The view on top of the eagle was beautiful, but would have been more breathtaking if he could watch his One smile at the view. He cut the pocketed feather down to size and attached it to the Misty Mountains’ bead.

Like the Shire, Beorn’s land was full of growing things and animals. As a baker, he knew his One would have found all sorts of ingredients to make the tastiest of treats. In particular, the tubs of various honeys he knew she would have enjoyed the most. Beorn had passion for beekeeping and had honeys from different flowers and fauna - all with a slight difference in flavor. They mostly tasted the same to Fili, but Bilbo assured him they all had a unique boutique and he was sure his One would have appreciated it as well. He had snagged a piece of honeycomb, carving it in the form of a bead, trying to figure out how to harden the wax as he cut the bead out of it. Bofur had proved helpful and had made a lacquer that would preserve it.

During their travels in Mirkwood, he had completely forgotten to find something bead worthy; his mind was so addled from the sickness that seemed to emanate from the forest. Perhaps it had been for the best, who knew if anything from that dreadful forest was safe? Instead he had broken a piece of the barrel he rode in as they escaped from the elven dungeons. As terrifying as that experience had been, Fili had enjoyed the high speed ride through the rapids. He’d even wondered if he could do something similar in the waterfalls and rivers in and around Erebor. He’d take her with him - once he’d make sure it was safe of course. On one side of the bead he had carved a wine glass, on the other a barrel with two dwarves smiling.

On the way to Laketown, he was in awe of how the water seemed to stretch all around him and he had wondered if that is what the sea looked like. Despite how close the Blue Mountains were to the Great Sea, he had only seen them from the tops of the mountains. His One had seen it though and he loved to listen to her tell him how beautiful the sea was. She had even been on a boat and sailed on it! But he couldn’t smell the salt breeze of a sea she had described, he could only smell fish as it was dumped on him. He knew his One would be bent over in laughter when he told her. Even then he could picture her face and hear her infectious laughter. Even in a barrel full of stinky fish, he had smiled at that thought. Just wait until he told her about how they got into Bard’s house! When they had briefly snuck into the market, he found a blue bead - the same shade as the lake - and had quickly pocketed it. Only when his brother had been resting after the elf healed him had he taken it back out, carving a fish on one side.

Inspiration for the other side came later, as they ran and dodged out of the way of Smaug’s fiery breathe. Fili truly thought he would die that night and his only regret was that he never told his One that he loved her. However in the morning, he realized hundreds of people wouldn’t see their loved ones again when the survivors of Laketown broke out in wails and cries. He carved the dwarven runes for “Remember” for he vowed to remember the name of every lost man, woman and child of Laketown - their lives had been the cost of his home and title. He would remember them, always. Knowing how much the scene would have broken her heart, Fili offered what help he could to the towns folk. Splinting limbs, wrapping wounds, he had used his own clothes in some cases.

On his way up to the mountain, he was sure he would be able to find a suitable bead amongst all the golden and other treasure in Erebor. But when he saw how the gold-sickness affected his uncle, he grew to detest anything related to the treasure horde. He debated on searching for a loose dragon scale, it’d be the rarest of gifts, but worried that whatever sickness came from the dragon would rub off from the scale. He would not risk his One with tainted treasures. Instead he chipped off a section of stone from the secret door the company had come in, this time shaping it into a heart. On one side Erebor, the other the Blue Mountains, for he would never forget to cherish his One and the friends he made along the way to claiming his homeland.

The last bead he had made from the pieces of armor that saved his, his brother’s and Thorin’s life. Before they had headed to battle, their Uncle no longer under the gold-sickness, they had started to shed the ornate armor Thorin had them don previously - all of them sick of such ornate plating. But Fili had remembered his promise to his One - the promise to come back alive. He kept only the most vital sections of armor and begged his brother and uncle to do the same. Reluctantly they agreed, and a good thing too, as Azog and Bolg would have skewered them without it. While they had been severely injured, the armor had saved them from the worst of it. His promise to her had saved them. During his convalescence he had forged the pieces of metal together and carved dwarvish runes symbolizing his unending thanks and vow to pay her back for the rest of his life.

However now that he was looking at the beads laid out on his bed he doubted himself. They were all different, from their material down to their style and together on a braid they would look bulky and ugly.  _ Mahal _ , they weren’t even the same color. Rubbing his hands over his face, he heard a knock on the door and grumbled for them to come in - only members of the company knocked on his door. However a gentle throat clearing caused his head to whip around towards the door and spot his One as he hastily tried to cover the beads with a pillow.

“Hello Fili,” (Y/N) bowed, as she looked up at him through her long lashes.

“Oh please, Y/N,” he sighed, “You really don’t need to do that.” Catching her smirk, he groaned as he watched her bow comically deep, adding a ridiculous hand flourish.

“As you wish,  _ your majesty _ ,” she teased, before righting herself, “What do you have there?”

“Nothing!”

But the twinkle in her eye told Fili he was found out and soon she pounced on the bed, trying to remove the pillow.

“Careful!” He laughed, “You’ll break them!” But of course she wouldn’t. They had survived trolls, goblins, rapids and dragons. They’d survive a pillow fight. Eventually he had pinned her down on the bed, the muscles he had put on during the journey still easily aiding him in the fight. Smiling, he watched as his mustache braids tickled her face making her giggle and proceeded to lightly trail them over skin, causing her laughter to ring out in his room. Her laugh was infectious and soon Fili joined in as he watched her laugh and struggle underneath him.

Eventually he let her up, still lightly laughing from their shenanigans.

“Will you tell me now?”

“Alright, alright,” Fili sighed before taking a deep breath, “There is something I would speak with you about.” Taking her hands, he saw her brow furrow in concern. He knew he must look nervous.

“During the journey, I kept my promise to you,” he began, “I made you something to show you that you were always on my mind - no matter where I was.” He started backwards in his journey, first beginning with the most recent bead and began telling her the tale of his adventures. As he continued he watched her eyes as they teared up during the saddest moments of their journey or brightened during the happiest. Just as he predicted, she had been bent over in laughter at his description of the barrels of fish and climbing through the toilet. She was amazed with each bead, looking at each one as if it was its own amazing treasure. 

“These are beautiful, Fee,” she murmured as she looked at them all spread out on the bed.

“I’m sorry they don’t match,” he blushed, rubbing the back of his head, “I understand if you don’t actually want them.” However he was startled when she had looked at him with such seriousness before slapping him with a pillow.

“Of  _ course _ I want them!” she tutted, “It’s like a story I can wear as a necklace.”

“Before you say that,” he hesitated,  _ boy _ had he messed this up, “You should know they are part of a set. I have one more to give you, but please don’t feel pressured to accept them.”

“I’m sure I’ll love it, Fee. You made it after all.”

Taking a deep breath he produced the courting bead from his pocket, “I made this for you, Y/N. Since we were young I’ve known that you were my One. I’ve known for fifteen years and fifteen years ago I made this bead, hoping that one day you would take it. I bought the metal with my first earnings, carving my family's crest on one side and the word for One on the other.”

Then he began the story of his adventures anew (from the start this time) but now focusing on how each bead was a memory of his love for her during his journey. How each step of the way he thought of her, loved her and thought only of her. At the end, his voice was cracking, his emotions starting to overwhelm him as his tale finished.

“I love you,  **Amralime** ,” he murmured. For a moment all was silence as he stared into her eyes, watery now and he worried he had upset her.

“Oh Fili, I love you too,” she smiled as from her pocket she produced her own bead. Fili thought his heart would burst as with a shaking hand he picked it up. Like his bead, the dwarven rune for One was carved on one side and her name carved on the other.

  
  


\-----

Epilogue:

As the two walked hand in hand, new beads and braids adorning their head, the new couple entered the dining hall. Spying the new adornments, Kili smirked.

“Of course my brother can’t simply use one courting bead but  _ ten _ ,” he snickered as they sat down next to him.

“It’s because I love my One ten times more than any dwarf has ever loved a One,” Fili laughed as he pressed his forehead to hers.

“Oh  _ Mahal _ ,” Kili groaned, “I think I’m gonna be sick.”

**Author's Note:**

> This turned out longer than I planned and gave me a surprising amount of feels. Just in time for Fili Fridays!
> 
> *jazz hands*


End file.
